And yet, the director strikes a balance with these two opposing sentiments so that we never doubt his presence as a potent antagonist the hero Leon.
In fact, you start to wonder just how far Besson might push that comic aspect at times. Meanwhile, Norman is a murderous villain who still gives us a few laughs due to his pathetic nature. Besson pushes the subject a bit to shock the audience, but never far enough that we stop believing the character altogether. We sympathize with Mathilda’s plight and yet she scares us out a bit with her subdued infatuation with Leon. One of my favorite examples has to be in “Leon the Professional” where its characters, particularly the precocious 12-year-old Mathilda Lando and Norman Stansfield, are both familiar and off-putting at the same time. It’s an odd balance that he strikes so beautifully in all his work. We always feel that his most outrageous moments are not so outlandish. And yet we always feel that he’s retaining a certain level of conservative cinematic structure in his movies. Just when you think you might have his intentions pinned down because he’s given you something rather traditional, he throws a curveball that turns expectations on their head. The director, whether working on an animated film, a suspense thriller, or a sci-fi classic, always manages to keep the viewer shocked and comfortable at the same time. Luc Besson’s films are strange and yet familiar. This week’s installment features Luc Besson’s “ The Fifth Element.” We will select a section or a film in its entirety, highlighting the impact that utilizing the operatic form or sections from an opera can alter our perception of a film that we are viewing.
“Opera Meets Film” is a feature dedicated to exploring the way that opera has been employed in cinema.
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